As electric vehicles become cheaper and more energy-efficient, they should help offset greenhouse gas emissions from gas-guzzling vehicles. But without significant changes to the electricity sector, electric vehicles may not help the climate crisis as much as we think, according to a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings call into question the capacity of electric vehicles to offset carbon dioxide emissions within our current energy system.
The researchers found that without substantial changes to boost renewable energy, increased emissions to power electric vehicles under Biden’s plan will offset more than half of the emissions reductions from having fewer gasoline-powered vehicles.
Putting more electric vehicles on the road naturally leads to increased electricity demand. The fuel needed to generate electricity still comes mainly from two heavily polluting sources: natural gas and coal. In other words, more than half the gains of taking gas-powered cars off America’s highways will be lost if we don’t address the glaring issue of increased electricity demand.
“Our study illustrates how increasing demand for electricity — without complementary policies to promote more renewable sources of energy — is likely to increasingly come from coal-fired power plants,” Matthew Kotchen, a co-author on the study and a professor of economics at Yale University, tells Inverse.
Simply shifting to electric vehicles without changing the source of the electricity for these cars will not accomplish the Biden administration’s climate goals.
Does this change your mind on EV's?
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